TCA: ABC, easy as 1, 2, 3 and more

With six returning shows that were new last season, ABC doesn’t really have a lot of repair work to do to get ready for the new Fall season, but as Entertainment President Paul Lee told the Television Critics Association Friday morning, that doesn’t mean you don’t add a couple of new bricks to the structure.

Actually, ABC is adding more than a couple. New shows include: “Malibu Country,” starring Reba (she’s just one name now) as a newly divorced country singer who moves her family, including her outspoken mother (Lily Tomlin) to Malibu; “666 Park Avenue,” a scary psychological horror series about a building where things go bump in the night and then some, starring Vanessa Williams and Terry O’Quinn; “Nashville,” a night time soap about a veteran country singer (Connie Britton) facing competition from an ambitious younger crossover singer (Hayden Panettiere); “The Neighbors,” a sitcom about a seemingly normal family who moves into a neighborhood populated with aliens (and not the kind who are the subjects of ongoing political debate) and “Last Resort,” a military drama about the crew on a US submarine, captained by Andre Braugher, who refuse to obey an order to bomb Pakistan and are forced to take refuge on a remote island.

Most of the shows looks promising, but one doesn’t: “The Neighbors,” which is virtually flattened by overthinking in the concept department. The idea for the show was done much better in “Third Rock From the Sun,” which may have something to do with why creator Dan Fogelman works so hard to make it different, he ends up making it just weird.

Fogelman could solve some significant problems if he allows the show to calm down a bit, but if he doesn’t, there are two decent sitcoms waiting in the ABC wings to replace it: “Family Tools,” the better of the two, starring JK Simmons, Kyle Bornheimer and Leah Remini, is based on a British sitcom called “White Van Man.” It’s about an eternally hopeful screwup who, as Bornheimer put it Friday, “is optimistic for no reason,” and after having tried and failed at countless careers, returns home to take over his dad’s (Simmons) fix-it business. The show co-stars Edi Gathegi, who’s great.

The show is currently set for mid-season, as is “How to Live With Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life),” created by Claudia Lonow and based on her own life, since she’s lived with her parents for 15 years now. She played Michele Lee’s daughter on “Knot’s Landing.” The show stars Sarah Chalke with Elizabeth Perkins adding the crazy bits as her mom.

Both shows are better than “Neighbors,” and, based on the pilot, better than “Malibu Country,” too, but the presence of Reba in the starring role on that show gives it a significant leg up for the season.

ABC is hoping to take advantage of people not finding the remote after “The Middle” on Wednesdays or just staying on ABC through “Modern Family.”

Last season, ABC had an enviable sitcom lineup on Wednesdays, including “Suburgatory” and “Happy Endings.” “Neighbors” feels a lot like when NBC tried plopping “Outsourced” in its Thursday sitcom lineup. It’s was the you-know-what in the punch bowl, which is what “The Neighbors” could end up being on Wednesdays for ABC.

Executive Producer Kevin Abbott tried valiantly to explain how this show differed from Reba’s earlier show, “Reba,” but the more he tried, the more he convinced many of the show’s similarities — including the fact he produced that one too.

The other big deal for ABC this year is the premiere of “Katie” — the afternoon talk show hosted by Katie Couric. It will premiere Sept. 10 and will focus on one or two topics each day, Couric said.

What’s also true is that ABC is moving strategically toward aggressive programming for the entire day, with “Good Morning America,” the recently added “Good Afternoon America,” the forthcoming addition of “Katie,” followed by a lot of prime time sitcom and dramatic clout and moving on to “Jimmy Kimmel Live” and “Night Line.”